


First Impressions

by brazilian_mess



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Latin Hetalia - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pride and Prejudice Fusion, M/M, and luci beind all misterious and silent and shit, argchi dinamic duo, dani being a super cute brother, hope you enjoy it, martin being a drama queen, this was very funny to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28594953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brazilian_mess/pseuds/brazilian_mess
Summary: Martín went down the stairs, dodging the mob that came against him without really seeing him, laughing when he heard the heated argument that blushed the face of one of his parents, Lorenzo, and his two younger sisters, Catalina and María. The girls surrounded Lorenzo, excited, exclaiming to each other and to their father anything that Martin did not care about.He didn't care, but he enjoyed the show. The boy stopped at the foot of the stairs, with his back against the handrail and his head tilted slightly to the side, trying to hear and distinguish the screams from upstairs.
Relationships: Argentina & Chile (Hetalia), Argentina/Brazil (Hetalia), Paraguay/Uruguay (Hetalia), South Italy/Spain (Hetalia)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oxiosa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oxiosa/gifts).



> My piece for the BrArg Secret Santa, for Oxi
> 
> This was very funny to write, being one of my favorite movies/books, thanks for requesting it 
> 
> Hope you like it, dear ❤️

Martín went down the stairs, dodging the mob that came against him without really seeing him, laughing when he heard the heated argument that blushed the face of one of his parents, Lorenzo, and his two younger sisters, Catalina and María. The girls surrounded Lorenzo, excited, exclaiming to each other and to their father anything that Martin did not care about.

He didn't care, but he enjoyed the show. The boy stopped at the foot of the stairs, with his back against the handrail and his head tilted slightly to the side, trying to hear and distinguish the screams from upstairs.

“Antonio!”, Martín could hear Lorenzo knocking violently on the door of his husband's office and smiled broadly as he tried to understand a word in the middle of the shouting.

“What happened, huh”, a soft voice behind Martín asked laughing, making the blonde turn to face Daniel, his older brother, “they seem to be more excited than normal.”

Daniel smirked at Martín, who raised his eyebrows.

“I know as much as you do”, Martín said, allowing Daniel to start walking up the stairs, changing his mind about having breakfast and following his older brother to the second floor.

“What is this noise, I can't concentrate on schoolwork”, Francisco, the youngest of the family, appeared at the kitchen door, rolling his eyes.

“Eight o'clock on a Saturday morning, Francisco”, Daniel ran down the stairs, grabbed Francisco by the wrist and went back up the steps, smiling at Martín as he passed in front of him, “you can do your schoolwork later.”

The three stopped in front of the office door, joining the two sisters who were trying to stop their laughter from being noticed while listening behind the door.

“Okay, now calm down you two”, Daniel commanded, using his older brother's voice with María and Catalina, while placing his ear near the lock on the door while making a signal for Martín to join him, “and start explaining what you already know.”

Martín pushed his sisters with his hips and placed himself next to Daniel, frowning slightly.

“Hey! We got there first!”, Catalina started to protest, making Martín click his tongue in annoyance.

“Dani and I were born first, it’s our natural right”, the blonde showed his tongue to his sister, “now spill it out.”

Catalina crossed her arms, going to Francisco's side, who was watching the scene with a confused but curious look. María stepped forward to the side of the older brothers, getting between them.

“I'll tell you if you let me hear it too”, she smirked. Martín narrowed his eyes, beginning to complain but was cut off by Daniel.

“Done. But tell it silently, then”, Martín gave his brother a slightly irritated look, who just waved a hand, unconcerned. María quickly stretched her tongue to Martín and turned to face Daniel, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“We have new neighbors.”

Francisco exaggerated a sigh of discontent, making the four other siblings turn to face him.

"That was it? You two made all this racket because of new neighbors?”, Catalina, who was at his side, gave him a light flick of the ear.

“Shut up and listen, Francisco, there's more”, Catalina pulled her brother to lean against the door with the others, crouching down.

“Is there?”, Martín looked at María, who was waiting for her audience to calm down so she could continue her story, surprisingly patient.

She smiled, biting her tongue between her teeth.

“Yes, there is. They're rich. Everyone seemed so important, Tíncho, I swear to you. And one of them just walks around alone, Cata and I are sure he is single, which is weird because he has such a nice smile, you know, and so cute…”, she sighed slightly as she rambled, making Daniel, who was watching her with loving eyes, giggle.

“And how do you know they are rich, María? They might only be elegant”, Daniel asked his sister, still with his face against the door.

"Or snobs." Martín rolled his eyes at his brother, turning his attention back to María shortly thereafter. "And ‘they’? How many are there?”, Martín asked, trying to hide his curiosity, without success.

“You don't even know them, Tíncho, don't judge them yet”, Daniel scolded slightly, shaking his head, “how do you know he is handsome, did you see him?”

“Obviously”, María shrugged, ignoring Martín's question on purpose, “Dad, Cata and I saw him unloading the furniture through the window. This morning. He was very polite to the people from the moving company, you know, I value that in a man.”

Martín gave a mocking exclamation, making María frown and prepare to answer.

“It's seems like Dad, alright, watching the neighbours through the windows”, Francisco murmured, just under the three, attentive trying to listen to his parents' conversation in the office.

“Don't talk like that, Francisco”, Daní stifled a laugh, nudging María's shoulder slightly to get her attention, “you saw them from the window, so it must be a house nearby.”

“The house the Sánchez lived in was unoccupied, if I recall”, Martín thought to himself.

“It was”, Daní nodded to the blonde, serious, “so they... how many did you say arrived, María?”, Daniel started asking his sister. Before she could answer, the door swung open, making Catalina and Francisco fall down, Catalina laughing out at Francisco's flushed face.

António laughed to himself, staring at his children, one hand on the doorknob and the other resting on his hip. He turned to his husband, who was peering out the window, attentive.

“I said they would be here, didn’t I”, he said laughing, turning to his children again, “well you are already here, come in, then.”

Daniel and Martín entered the office, helping the two younger brothers to get up when they passed by them, and wishing their father a good morning. María ran over to where Lorenzo was, reaching under his arm to look out the window as well.

The girl gave a shout of joy, causing Lorenzo to swear quickly with fright, and turned to the family, looking at them with a wide smile.

“I said he was handsome, Dani, come and see. Oh, Catalina, you don't have to push me! Daddy!”, she turned to Lorenzo in exasperation, to which the man rolled his eyes and gently pushed them both so that Daniel could position himself by his side.

“Who is he? The one with glasses?”, Daniel asked Lorenzo, who nodded while watching the expression on his son's face sideways. Daniel glanced at Martín, who caught the message and walked to the window.

“He's really handsome, I have to admit”, Martín whispered to Daniel, raising his eyebrows playfully.

“Almost as beautiful as you, Dani”, Lorenzo said in a suspicious tone, eliciting an exaggerated sound of agreement from Martín. Daniel looked at Lorenzo for a moment, letting out a loud laugh at his dad's insinuation. “Don't laugh, it's true. Tíncho agrees with me. Don't you agree, son?” Lorenzo quickly turned his head to face Martín, his eyes squinting in a silent warning.

“Ah, yes, I do”, Martin said with a laugh, nodding violently. Daniel laughed, making Lorenzo squint harder. Martín continued, his tone malicious, “in fact we could go there and offer Dani's dowry price, right now. We cannot waste time.”

The two brothers laughed among themselves, quickly moving away from their father who was already red in the face again. Lorenzo stamped his foot, turning to his husband with a frown.

“António!”, he exclaimed, gesturing violently in the direction of the two oldest children.

“Don’t annoy your dad, children”, António shrugged, walking towards the window. He put his hands on his husband's shoulders, kissing the top of his head, “oh, look, I think they have already started redecorating the house.”

The five siblings ran to the window, crawling under their parents' arms, trying to find the best angle to spy on the movement below.

“I knew they were rich”, María exclaimed victoriously, “look, Father, they have marble statues, who has marble statues today?”

“Rich people”, António agreed with his daughter, solemnly, but with a smile on the corner of his lips.

“We have statues in our garden. It's no big deal”, Martín shrugged, trying to pretend disinterest. Daniel smiled at him, a silent provocation in his eyes, to which Martín pushed him with his shoulder.

“Yes, plaster”, Lorenzo ruffled his son's blond hair, “not marble. Tonio, I told you, didn't I, we _need_ to welcome them. We have to go there”, he patted his husband on the chest several times, without turning to look at him, still watching the neighbors.

“Besides”, Martín continued, looking at María to provoke her, “who guarantees that it is marble? I bet it's white painted concrete.”

“It's marble”, she insisted, obstinate, and her expression became very serious, “I know, I recognize these refined things. The sun reflects like that, in a different way”, she nodded, certain of her speech. Lorenzo nodded too, agreeing. Martín frowned and opened his eyes wide.

“What bullshit-”, he asked in a laughing tone, but his sister paid no attention.

“Who moves in the middle of Saturday? Weird people”, Francisco mumbled, trying to see over Catalina's shoulder, who kept jumping in front of him.

“They do. If they are rich they do what they want on the day they want. Who will question them? António, you will go down there. Now.” Lorenzo pulled the curtains, cutting off everyone's view (and ignoring the protests) and turned to his husband. António started preparing an answer, but was promptly interrupted, “yes, you will. I started to prepare a cake as soon as I saw the truck park in front of the house, I'm going to take it out of the oven.”

“You had a cake ready?”, Martín asked, a little surprised, although he knew he shouldn't be.

“Obviously, I'm not a savage”, Lorenzo replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “Martín, you will take the cake out of the oven. María will choose a decorated plate for the cake. And Dani will change clothes and get ready.”

“Get ready for what?”, Daniel asked, although he already knew the answer. He pushed Martín's arm, who laughed at the apparent despair on his face.

“You will take the cake with me and your father, to meet the new neighbours. It is not that difficult to follow, Dani, you are an intelligent boy”, Lorenzo raised his hands in exasperation. António smiled with his hands on his hips, waiting for his husband to stop chattering for a second.

“I don't think it will be necessary, my love”, he said calmly. Lorenzo sighed, running his hands through his hair.

“What do you _mean_ , ‘it won’t be necessary’? Am I the only one who cares about the future of this family, huh?”

“And here it comes”, Martín went to sit on a sofa near the wall, watching the daily family scene unfold, being followed by his siblings.

“It won't be necessary”, António repeated, calmly, going to the desk to grab a paper that was there, and handing it to Lorenzo, who already had his face deformed by the anger that was growing inside him, “because I have already contacted the new house owner. In fact, all the new residents.”

António gave his husband a cocky smile, watching his face change from anger to excitement in a fraction of a second, as he read the note in his hands.

Martin wrinkled his nose.

“Who still sends a note nowadays, old-fashioned much?”

“It's a sign of good etiquette. The new owner of the house has good manners”, Lorenzo answered his son without looking at him, still staring at the paper, “Sebastián Artigas. Good name. Elegant. Ah!”, he exclaimed, making the attentive siblings sitting on the sofa startle, “António! Finally you did something to help me!”, Lorenzo smiled, jumping on his husband's neck and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

António laughed, kissing Lorenzo's lips quickly and ignoring the faking sounds of vomiting that the youngest siblings made while watching the scene.

“I always do things that help you”, António clicked his tongue, “including telling you that our new neighbor Sebastián moved because he finished medical school, and with family help bought an office here, wants to start life in a quiet city like ours. And while he is _alone_ , if you know what I mean, his brother and a friend are going to live with him, too. To keep company, none of them need to save or anything.” António sat in the desk chair, with an innocent smile on his face, looking at his family who stared at him with wide eyes for the amount of information he was keeping.

“He is a doctor?”, Daniel babbled, sitting next to Martin on the sofa. Martín turned to him, one eyebrow raised in a mocking expression. “It's just that he looks very young, it’s impressive.”

“Yeah…”, Martín nodded slightly, starting to crack a malicious smile.

“I’m serious, that's it”, Daniel repeated, while pushing his brother with his shoulder, playfully, and stood up, answering a call from Lorenzo with an expression of despair disguised on his face.

Martín started to get up too, discreetly, as a new mess started to form in the office and hoped to go unnoticed.

“Where are you going?”, Lorenzo's question forced him to sit back on the sofa, reluctantly, to answer his dad.

“I was considering having breakfast, actually”, Martín said smiling sideways, “since the ‘new neighbors’ issue has already been resolved and I believe that you and the father are now on the subject ‘pushing Dani to the new neighbor’ and my presence is no longer requested”, Martín blinked his blue eyes innocently.

“Of course it still is”, Lorenzo clicked his tongue, raising his eyebrows, “I want you to go talk to Manuel. His mother must already know everything about our dear neighbor and I'm sure she must be up to something.”

“Up to something. Like what, an evil plan?”, Martín repeated, holding his laugh. He glanced at António, raising his eyebrows, but his father just shook his head slightly, also holding on to himself not to laugh.

“Yes, exactly. I never liked her, you know. Always wanting to push her son on top of the first single man that appears. Imagine now, a newly graduated doctor, ah!, she must be going mad”, he started to laugh with himself, walking again to the window, a manic expression on his face.

“Does he hear what he says?”, Francisco murmured, looking at António with wide eyes. António looked at the youngest and laughed through his nose.

“No, I think almost never. But, you know”, he turned to Martín, giving his son a wink, “I believe this is your cue.”

“Finally”, Martín jumped from the sofa, ran to his father, gave him a quick hug and left the office as fast as he could, deciding to skip his breakfast and go straight to the Rodríguez house to find Manu.

***

“Newly graduated doctor, single, and already bought a house?”, Manuel said to no one in particular, whistling shortly afterwards, “really an outstanding model”.

Martín stopped pacing to face his friend, a disbelieving smile on his face.

“It is not possible that you only absorbed _that_ from the speech I gave especially for you. Manuel!”, the blonde protested when he saw the affirmative expression of his friend, who laughed at his despair.

“It's just the truth, Martín”, Manuel patted the empty space beside him on the garden bench he was sitting on, adjusting himself so that Martín could sit down, “my mom is going crazy, you know, I never saw her so excited in my life.”

Martin crawled over to the bench, dropping his body onto the seat with an exaggerated sigh. He adjusted himself so that he could rest his head on Manuel's lap, facing his friend's amused expression with the greatest air of suffering he could produce.

“My dad said she would be like that. And he is the same. Or worse”, the blonde raised an arm, resting it over his eyes, “do you believe that he had already devised a whole plan to make the major bachelor ever meet Dani? He had even baked a damn cake.”

Manuel laughed lightly, restrained.

“I believe. It's just like him”, he looked down, lifting Martín's arm slightly to look him in the eye, “And Daniel took the cake to the major bachelor ever?”

“No, he didn't. Not _yet_ , mark what I'm saying. Mr. Lorenzo does not give up that easily.”

The two went silent, listening to the sound of running water from the fountain that Manuel's mother had recently installed in the garden. Martín cleared his throat, drawing the attention of Manuel, who had closed his eyes for a moment.

“When do you think we are going to meet this doctor, huh?”

Manuel raised an eyebrow at his friend.

“You said you already thought he was boastful, now you want to meet him?”

“He has garden statues, Manu”, Martín exclaimed, sitting down to face Manuel, “what bachelor our age, living alone on top of that, has garden statues? Boastful, yes. And tacky.”

“If they are marble statues…”, Manuel teased his friend, smiling sideways.

“They are _not_ marble. María is hallucinating. They're concrete, I'm sure. Or plastic”, he wrinkled his nose, disapproving. “Anyway, it was the most exciting thing that happened in this town in the past ten years. Don’t you dare say that you are not curious, too.”

“You complain about your dad but you can be as futile as him when you want to, Tíncho”, Manuel raised his eyebrow even more, mocking his friend, “and no, I'm not curious. I already met him.”

Martín jumped off the bench, eyes wide.

“You’ve _met him_ ? And how do you leave me here chattering about this human being for _centuries_ without bothering to mention that you already know him?”

Manuel shrugged.

“My mom went to say hi as soon as he got off the moving truck. My dad and I went too, you know how she is. Wanted to introduce the family.”

“Wanted to introduce _you_ , you mean.”

“Her usual scheme. Anyway, he is very nice. Too tidy for my taste, but nice.”

Martin shook his head with a disbelieving smile on his face.

“Daddy's going to be crazy, just wait until he knows”. Then he turned to face Manu, a malicious expression on his face, “what else?”

Manuel rolled his eyes at Martín, pretending impatience.

“She informed him that we are having a small party tomorrow. And that he, his brother and his friend should be present, oh, it would be disastrous if they weren't”, Manuel imitated his mother's voice, making Martín laugh softly.

“She didn't tell Dad about any party.”

“She'll wait until he comes here to ask about the new neighbor to tell, it seems you don't know them both”, he simply shrugged. Martín agreed, laughing.

“But then, you met the doctor”, the blonde commented, pretending to disguise curiosity, “and the whole troupe too.”

Manu nodded, silent. His face lit up in a devilish smile as he watched Martín fight his own curiosity. Finally, the blonde stamped his foot on the ground, assuming defeat, and went to sit next to his friend on the bench, his eyes sparkling.

“Okay, you won”, he rolled his eyes, failing to restrain a smile, “tell me everything, without skipping any part.”

***

The music resonated from the Rodríguez family's home while Lorenzo hurried his husband and five children down the street, smiling proudly in front of António.

“Dani, come here, I want to look at you”, he said only meters from the front door of Manuel's family home, the previous smile giving way to an expression of concentration, with furrowed eyebrows.

Casting an expression of feigned suffering to Martín, who was at his side, Daniel walked over to his dad, smiling calmly.

“You have looked at the poor guy about five hundred times since we left the house, Daddy”, Martín commented to Lorenzo, smiling mischievously. Lorenzo just clicked his tongue in response, ignoring him, while giving Daniel a small affectionate pat on the face.

“I will look at him five hundred more if I find it necessary”, he said, raising an eyebrow, while fixing Daniel's hair, “your brother has already graduated from college, has already found a stable job. All that remains is to find a decent son-in-law for me and your father!” Martín made a disapproving sound, causing the younger siblings and António, who were watching the scene, to giggle softly.

Lorenzo shrugged, giving Martín a meaningful look.

“It's true, Tíncho. And as soon as you finish your internship and get a permanent job, you will be next.”

Martín wrinkled his nose in a mixture of surprise and disgust. Lorenzo smiled, victorious, and turned on his heel to press the bell at the Rodríguez house, dragging Daniel with him.

António passed by Martín, offering his son a knowing smile and shrugging his shoulders as if to say ‘well, you already know how he is’. María, on the other hand, laughed openly at Martín's expression of despair as she dragged Catalina and Francisco excitedly into the house.

Blowing a hair falling on his forehead, Martín joined his family on the doorstep, arriving just when Manuel's mother answered the doorbell with a perfectly rehearsed smile.

“Enzito!”, the woman made an exaggerated gesture to smooth the skirt of her dress, and leaned down to give two kisses on the cheeks of Lorenzo, who returned, with his eyes looking at the room behind the woman.

“Isidora, dear, thanks for the invitation”, the man commented, entering the house with his husband right behind.

“Of course. António, how are you? Cristóbal kept asking me when you would arrive, he just bought some new cigars that he is dying to try”, she commented, wrinkling her nose and pulling the man slightly into the house, then allowing the other five family members to enter.

António nodded with a smile, gave Lorenzo a quick kiss on the cheek and quickly disappeared among the guests, wasting no time. Martín snorted softly, envying his father at that moment.

Taking advantage that Lorenzo's attention was captivated by Isidora, who was chattering about the party and its success, the blonde signaled María, Catalina and Francisco to disperse, grabbed Daniel's wrist and quickly headed towards to the kitchen of the house to get something for the two of them to drink.

The brothers stopped at the kitchen door, an old strategy of the two to get the drinks that the waiters, who Isidora always hired for their parties, brought in advance.

“Dad was going to start showing us off to Isidora and bragging about our success, he'll be pissed at you, you know”, Daniel laughed at his brother, making Martín roll his eyes.

“You wanted to get out of there as much as I did, you're just too good to do it yourself”, he stole two glasses of white wine from the tray of a waiter coming out of the kitchen, thanking him quickly, and handed Daniel one of the glasses.

Placing a lock of hair behind his ear, Daniel took the cup and then took a sip. Martín noticed that he was watching the room with attentive eyes, taking advantage of the privileged view that the two had of the entrance door, from the place where the two were. The blonde opened a devilish smile.

“You are looking for the doctor”, Martín accused, his voice laughing. Daniel glanced at him quickly, looking back at the entrance almost immediately.

“I… no, that's not it. I don't know what you're talking about, Tincho”, he gave a rehearsed laugh and took another sip of his wine.

“They are late, but I'm sure they will be here in a few minutes”, a voice from behind the brothers made the two turn suddenly. Martín smiled when he saw Manuel.

“I found you.”

“It didn't seem like you were exactly looking for me”, Manuel laughed, turning his attention to Daniel, “you will like him, Dani. The doctor.”

Daniel blinked repeatedly at Manuel, without paying much attention to what he said. He started rehearsing another excuse when Martín took his chin and made him face the entrance door again.

“I think they arrived.”

Standing at the door was the weirdest trio of people that Martín had ever seen.

The bespectacled blond, who Martín knew was Sebastián Artigas, smiled at Isidora in a charming and warm way, probably humbly thanking the invitation to the party. He looked really nice, Martín thought to himself. And was beautiful, indeed.

Accompanying Sebastián were two other men, who Martín assumed were the brother and friend of whom he had heard. On Sebastián's left side, a tanned man, of short stature and slightly arrogant expression, studied the Rodríguez family room with clinical precision. The other member of the trio was slightly taller than the other man, although he was still smaller than Sebastián. He fiddled his wavy hair indifferent to the speech that Isidora gave, looked at everything and everyone with an expression that Martín could not decide if he was arrogant or indifferent, and occasionally forced himself to show a false smile with very white teeth when Sebastián included him in the conversation.

Manuel whistled softly beside Martín, making the blonde jump, startled, being pulled out of his attentive analysis of the newcomers.

“They make a beautiful trio, don't they? The one on the left has a very sour face, but the one on the right is quite handsome, don't you think?”

Martin did. He pouted his mouth.

“It may be, but he seems constipated”, Martín wrinkled his nose, turning to face Manuel. The two stared at each other for a second, in silence, and laughed softly.

Daniel scolded them both, although he smiled with his eyes.

“That was uncalled for, Martín.”

“But it’s true”, Martín shrugged. He raised an eyebrow, looking back at the guests of honor and Isidora, who were approaching where the three were, a victorious smile on the face of the hostess of the party, “and here she comes.”

Manuel nudged Martín's belly, indicating the opposite corner of the room with his chin.

“And there comes Lorenzo.”

Martín and Daniel made sounds of suffering. Arising from they did not know where, Lorenzo paraded around the room with a decided expression on his face, pulling his husband with him, walking towards his two older children.

Daniel sipped the rest of the wine in his glass, taking the one in Martín's hand. The blonde snorted, giving his brother a comforting pat on the shoulder.

“Good evening, Mr. Lorenzo, how are you?”, Manuel stepped forward to greet the older man, buying time for Martín and Daniel. Lorenzo looked him up and down, as if he had just noticed that Manuel was there too.

“Very well, thank you”, he said simply, and turned to face his sons, the doctor arrived. Dani, you look great, I hope you haven't drunk too much, you'll need to be sober to talk to him. Stretch your shirt. And Martín”, he raised an eyebrow, meeting Martín's blue eyes, “behave.”

The blonde nodded solemnly, also registering the warning look that António gave him, while watching Isidora making his way among the guests, escorting Sebastián Artigas and Company as if they were a royal entourage.

She arrived where they were with a smirk, gave Lorenzo an icy look and asked Manuel to stand beside her.

“You already know my son, Manuel”, she started to speak, pulling Manuel closer discreetly, “Manu, I would like to introduce Julio Paz, Sebastián’s brother, and Luciano da Silva, friend of the two.”

“Nice to meet you”, Manuel nodded, receiving the greetings of the two men in return, “were you able to move well, are you comfortable already?”

Sebastián smiled sincerely, which lit up his face. Martín felt Daniel shift his weight on his feet beside him and curbed a smile that was becoming too wide.

“Yes, we did, everything went well, thank you for your concern”, Sebastián answered the friendly question with a cheerful voice, “which was a pleasant surprise, considering that we decided to move on a Saturday, right?”

The group laughed at Sebastián's little joke. Lorenzo seized the moment, stepping forward and offering his hand to Sebastián, who shook it with a curious smile.

“The city is small, but we are a hardworking people. Lorenzo Carriedo, pleased to meet you. This is my husband, António”, he went on to greet the other two men, who returned the handshake although they remained silent, while António introduced himself to Sebastián offering him a cordial smile.

“Nice to meet you. You are our next door neighbours, if I'm not mistaken?”

“Exactly. Me, António and our five children”, Lorenzo puffed out his chest proudly.

Julio raised an eyebrow behind his brother, smiling sideways.

“Five? It must be… busy”, the man's tone of voice indicated an unpleasant hint, looking amused at Luciano, who just looked back at him with that expression that Martín couldn't distinguish between unpleasant and indifferent. Martín prepared to answer but Sebastián stepped forward.

“It must be exciting”, he replied to his brother, laughing happily. He looked at Daniel and Martín, greeted them as well, while Lorenzo introduced them. Martín mentally registered the smiles his brother and Sebastián exchanged, as well as the fact that their handshake took a few seconds longer than usual.

“Do you like big families, Sebastián?”, Martín asked, casting a glance at Daniel, who silently begged Martín not to do anything unusual.

Sebastián blinked repeatedly, taken aback by the question. He pondered for a second, a calm expression on his face.

“I believe so. I don't have one myself, unfortunately. It's just me, Julio and my dad. And Luciano, of course”, he pulled his friend close to him, squeezing his shoulder affectionately, “he is like family.”

Sebastián smiled at his friend, who returned the smile quickly. Martín swallowed hard against his will when he saw Luciano's expression, blinking a few times before he managed to come up with an answer to Sebastián. He decided to nod and smile.

“I understand. It's really exciting, we've never had a boring day in our lives, have we, Dani?”, Martin continued, consciously addressing his brother.

As planned, Sebastián turned his attention to Daniel, attentive to his response. Daniel stared at Martín for a millisecond, picking up his cue, and then laughed, openly.

“Ah yes”, he nodded, amused, “there is always something going on.”

“It must be fun, indeed”, Sebastián agreed, looking at Daniel, “you are in five, your father said?”

Daniel smiled affirmatively.

“In addition to the two of us, there is also María, Catalina and Francisco.”

“Beautiful names. Did they come to the party too?”

Lorenzo, who observed the pair's exchange of words like a tennis match, stepped forward to answer.

“They did, they're all over the party. In fact, I would like to introduce them too. Daniel, dear”, he turned to his son, silently speaking to him with his eyes, “could you be so kind as to look for them?"

Daniel nodded slowly, a little confused.

“Sure, just a minute.”

“If you need any help I would be happy to assist”, Sebastián said helpfully, “so that you find them faster.”

Daniel looked a little surprised at him, but then smiled sincerely, while passing his glass of wine to Martín.

“I accept, if it's not a nuisance. Excuse us, we won't be long.”

With a quick nod, the two moved away from the group, immersed in a cordial conversation with each other, all smiles.

Martín took his glass of wine that Daniel had snatched from his hand minutes before, raising his eyebrows at Lorenzo, acknowledging his father's victory. Lorenzo simply smiled back, squeezing António's arm discreetly in a silent celebration.

António patted Lorenzo's hand affectionately, excused himself, and walked away with his husband. Isidora followed them, in order to look for her husband, somewhat upset with the course of the night, Martín thought to himself.

The blonde walked over to Manuel, exchanging amused looks with his friend. Turning his attention back to the group, Martín surreptitiously looked at Luciano, who had remained silent until the moment, not letting out more than a hum or a nod, despite the questions that Isidora asked him and Júlio out of politeness before she gave up and left.

“What did you think of the city, Luciano?”, Martín asked suddenly, offering the man a neutral smile. Luciano stared at him, long enough that Martín could make out the color of his eyes, hazel.

“Calm”, he replied simply, his face still indecipherable, “seems to be calm... A little, uh… boring.”

“It's peaceful”, Manuel laughed to Luciano’s answer, feeling Martín's mood changing, and already anticipating what was to come.

Martín twisted the wine glass between his fingers, his lips stretching in a slightly forced way.

“It's _boring_ , he’s right, let’s be honest. Little happens here. I imagine you come from a very important metropolis, it must be difficult.”

“Not really, no”, Luciano raised an eyebrow, and Martín was proud of himself for having made the arrogant man finally demonstrate something.

“But we have _some things_ , we have some bars. The frat parties in the neighboring town, too”, Manuel continued, his eyes jumping from Martín to Luciano, now openly staring at each other.

“Luciano doesn't seem like the type of person to attend frat parties, Manu”, Martín laughed, looking Luciano in the eye.

“It is not exactly our type of environment”, Júlio replied, reminding Martín of his presence, “nor our type of company”, he faced Martín directly.

The tone of Julio's voice made the unspoken hint clear, and Martín felt his blood boil. He spun the cup between his fingers more quickly, without realizing it.

“With so few people living here, it will be difficult for you to find your type of company, I think. Unfortunately”, Martín spoke softly, between his teeth. He looked back at Luciano, tilting his head to the side.

“Do you believe so little in the population of your city?”, Luciano asked, imitating Martín's pose. Again, the blonde couldn't decide what the man's expression meant, whether Luciano was asking sincerely or if he was making fun of him.

Unsure, he made the glass spun faster and faster in his hand, the liquid dancing dangerously close to the rim. Martín pursed his lips.

“Oh, no, that's not it”, he shook his head, “but I'm a realist. I can imagine your criteria for _good company_ , and I doubt anyone here would come close to filling them in”, his voice came out in a hiss, his eyes narrowed.

The wine that was swirling in the glass in his hand escaped from it’s container, falling straight onto Luciano's shirt. Julio exclaimed, Manuel apologized and hurried to the kitchen for napkins.

“Ah, a thousand times sorry”, Martín forced a regretful face, placing the now empty glass on a piece of furniture nearby, strong enough to make noise.

“It’s nothing, I don't think it will leave a stain”, Luciano replied, looking at him with a piercing look. Martin shook his head.

“It's white wine, it won't stain, no”, he shrugged, smiling, acid, “but look on the bright side, the party, at least, was not at all boring.”

He pretended to smile sweetly at Luciano, and for a second he thought he saw the ghost of a smile too. Feeling his blood bubbling up (and his face starting to turn red), he excused himself and spun on his heel, angrily stomping away.


End file.
